jury duty (again)

[TheHuckster]

Technically, he's right, and the judge agreed with him. A trial is supposed to be about the specific charges brought, and the evidence for same. A jury is supposed to weigh what is presented to them about the actual charges, not history.

Not only that but even then prosecutor might have dismissed you. Why? Because if later on it was found out you possessed that information and made it known you were deciding because of it, they could declare a mistrial and undo the guilty verdict.

Bringing up past offenses to determine one's verdict in the present case is a big no-no. Otherwise, how can you be so sure that the 2nd and 3rd DUI offenses he was found guilty on merely because of his 1st DUI?

[Nekojin]

I've only been called for Jury Duty once, and it happened to be while I was unemployed/doing temp work. While doing the jury duty would have made job-hunting difficult, I still wanted to go and do my civic duty. It would have been more interesting than pounding the pavement and listening to Apple One say, "No, nothing today, sorry."

Sadly, everyone who arrived for jury duty on that day was summarily dismissed, given a free pass because the courts weren't in session that day due to some construction, or something along those lines.

[SongsOfDragons]

Is it wrong for me to say that I'd love to give it a go? All three courts I know of locally are easily within travelling distance (one even within walking distance). Just my luck no summons will come when I'm free and available, they'll start coming when I've got more life on my plate and can't make it...

[Nekojin]

Like Andara, I'll probably be rejected from serving on a jury when my turn comes around again, if I ever get to the "Jury selection" phase. My mother is a Family Law attorney, I know a great deal about due process and the law in general (partly from helping Mom study for her law school classes), and I tend to be somewhat vocal and critical. Depending on the case, either or both sides could hate having me on the Jury.

[fireheart17]

I've never been called for jury duty. EVER.

My criminology prof however once described a situation where he WAS called for jury duty and when he wandered in for jury selection (I'm not 100% sure if we go through the voir dire process ), he must've looked too eager because he was dismissed right then and there

[Andara Bledin]

I'm trying to do the online orientation so I can go in later if I have to, but the site has issues. It crapped out on me the first time I tried to do it, and this time it's making me re-watch a 10 minute video because it tried to crap out again. >_<

Thankfully, it gives an 8-hour window for going through the entire process, which they estimate will take an hour.

^-.-^

[LewisLegion]

I have to call in this weekend and if my number is selected, I have to go sit in the courthouse on Monday.

Which is sadly pointless. I'm kind of interested in sitting a jury and my work does compensate...but the moment they find out I have PTSD I'll be tossed.

Ah, well.

[Andara Bledin]

They might not.

One of the potentials in my pool was a woman on disability for panic attacks, but there was no reason for that to come up during selection.

If the charges in the case you're pulled in for selection on don't touch on the reason you suffer PTSD, then it just won't come up.

Say some 20-something was caught spray-painting a building. He's still allowed a jury trial, and if he doesn't plead out, your PTSD would be unlikely to be an issue.

In the case I was in selection for, however, it might have been a factor, since the complaint included a charge of domestic battery. If the woman with the panic attacks hadn't been the victim of such herself, it's likely they would have kept her on.

I don't know what caused the prosecuting attorney to drop me as opposed to someone else. I had mentally tagged every other challenge that got dismissed, however - some people are lousy at hiding their prejudice, and those with a history of something similar are obvious choices.

But the guy handling the prosecution was notably disorganized and I suspect he's really new, too, so it's entirely possible he dropped me based on something someone else said. *shrug*

^-.-^

[LewisLegion]

Yeah, good point. I guess we'll see what we see.